THE STATIONMASTER'S ACCOUNT.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 93, 21 April 1908, Page 5

THE STATIONMASTER'S ACCOUNT.

TRAIN RUNS OVER THE POINTS

41 BODIES RECOVERED

(Received April 21, 11.53 a.m.) MELBOURNE, April 21. The list of killed is not yet available, but the latest news from the scene (is. that 41 bodies have been recovered, while 60 injured have been officially recorded. /

The stationmaster at Sunshine says that he was the only one oni duty at the station. He had set the points far the Ballarat train to come into the station, and the points remained set in that way. He was busy attending to the despatch of the.- Ballarat train, and had not time to alter the points even if he had desired; consequently the points stood against the Bendigo train, the driver of which disregarded the signals, with the result that the train ran over the points and smashed into the Ballarat train. ~ .

The cars which were demolished contained about 120 passengers. .Driver Milburn, who was on the engine attached to/the Bendigo train, stated that when, he noticed the signals against him the Westinghouse brake refused to act; he then reversed the engine, but it did not respond immediately; then tie collision occurred. Had the Ballarat train got away to time the accident would never have happened; it was about 45 minutes late.

The noise of the collision was, so great that, 'the whole neighbourhood was-aroused. '

The platform Was,quite dark, and it was impossible for the injured passengers, as they rushed up and down in their excitement, to avoid trampling on or tumbling over the dead and "woiinded. ,

.When the first ambulance train arrived iti took out Dr Percy and a corps of railway ambulance worker's, who. provided, first aid requisites. As their lanterns began to flit about the platfornv a terrible scene was displayed, gruesome with horror.

.The bodies of women and men, with features battered ont of recognition and limbs mangled^ lay alout the platform. One corpse with its head completely torn off lay close by the mangled body of a mother with a dead baby clasped In her arms. The body of a man was hanging up between two of the. carriages in a position, where for a long time the workers could do nothing to extricate it. It was with the greatest difficulty that many of the bodies could be extricated at all, as they were impaled on the ends of sharp, splintered woodwork. A number of the injured are likely to succumb. > .